Bitcoin fell 2.8%, dropping as low as $79,197, after stronger-than-expected US employment data raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise its key interest rate in September, Bloomberg reported.
The decline sharply reversed bitcoin's recent climb above $80,000. Bloomberg described the drop as a fresh macroeconomic test for the cryptocurrency, which has repeatedly struggled to hold its footing around the $80,000 level.
US jobs data beats forecasts
Figures published the same day showed US non-farm payrolls rose by 162,000 in August, exceeding every forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%.
The stronger jobs numbers reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, a move that could weigh further on cryptocurrency prices. The Federal Reserve is the United States' central bank, and its interest rate decisions influence borrowing costs and investor appetite for riskier assets such as bitcoin. Non-farm payrolls, one of the most closely watched US economic indicators, measure the change in the number of jobs in the economy excluding farm work and a handful of other categories.
Recent price swings
Bitcoin had risen above $80,000 in early May for the first time since late January, according to Bloomberg's earlier reporting.
On 15 June, almost two weeks after the United States and Iran announced they had reached a preliminary agreement and that the Strait of Hormuz would be unblocked, bitcoin rose 3% during a single Asian trading session, reaching about $65,600. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, gained 3.7% to trade at $1,731 in the same period.
Volatile year for crypto
Bitcoin's price has swung sharply through the year, with the token repeatedly testing the $80,000 threshold before pulling back. Bloomberg's reporting frames the latest drop as part of that ongoing pattern, driven this time by shifting expectations around US monetary policy rather than by developments specific to the cryptocurrency market itself.
